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The work and organisation of the system were fully described in the Annual
Report for 1896.
Multiple notifications.—In order to ascertain how far the statements so often
made against the working of the notification of infectious diseases are justified
by facts, the notifications received during 1897 have been carefully extracted
and classified in the following table:—
Notification Certificates, lst January to 31st December, 1897.
1. Total number of Certificates received 2336
2. Number of second certificates of same case received 141
(а) From a hospital colleague 1
(b) From a partner 1
(c) From an assistant 1
(d) From an independent source 138
3. Number of third certificates of same case received 1
4. Number of cases in which the same patient has, in
addition, subsequently been separately certified as
suffering from another dangerous infectious disease 10
5. Number of cases in which later symptoms have led
to the patient being subsequently certified as not
suffering from the dangerous infectious disease in
the original certificate 34
(а) From the same practitioner 14
(b) From a different practitioner 20
VARIATIONS OF DIPHTHERIA PREVALENCE.
In the Annual Report for 1894 it was shown that (1) in London, previous to
1891, the gradual rise in the mortality from Diphtheria corresponded with a
gradual fall in the mortality from other throat diseases, namely, croup, laryngitis,
other diseases of larynx and trachea, and sore throat and quinsy; (2) that, adding
the deaths of all these diseases together, the death rate year by year from the
throat diseases as a whole during the decennium 1881 to 1890 had not increased;
but (3) that subsequent to 1890 the annual death-rate from the throat diseases as a
whole was increasing.